Creasing and folding machine.



No. 790,797. PATENTED MAY 23, 1905. J. R. LITTLE.

GREASING AND FOLDING MACHINE.

APPLIOATION FILED JAN, 16, 1904.

lllllmng lium No. 790,797. 7 I PATENTED MAY 23, 1905.

J. R. LITTLE.

GREASING AND FOLDING MACHINE.

APPLIOATION FILED-TAN. 16, 1904.

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PATENT @rrice.

CREASING AND FOLDING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION IOrming part of Letters Patent N 0. 790,797, dated May 23, 1905.

Application filed January 16, 1904. Serial No. 189,263.

To all whom, it ntay concern:

Be it known that I, JAMEs R. LITTLE, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city of Quincy, in the county of Adams and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Creasing and Folding Machines, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification.

My invention relates to a machine for creasing and folding the ends of Stovepipe-section sheets or other sheets that are formed into circular shape and secured together by a seamjoint.

The invention consists in features of novelty hereinafter fully described, and pointed out in the claims.

Figure 1 is a top or plan view of my machine, partly broken out. Fig. II is a vertical transverse section taken on line II II, Fig. I. Fig. III is an enlarged vertical longitudinal section taken on line III III, Fig. I, through the creasing-rollers of themachine. Fig. IV is a section of a sheet of metal as creased by being operated upon in passage between the creasing-rollers. Fig. V is an enlarged section taken on line V V, Fig. I. Fig. VI is a perspective view of one of the folders of the machine. Fig. VII is a section of fragments of a creased and folded sheet as produced in my machine.

1 designates the base of my machine, which is surmounted by a pair of end standards 2, having caps 2. In the standards 2 are vertical slots 3 and 4t.

5 designates adjustment-screws that pass through the standard-caps 2 and bear against the boxes of roller-shafts to be hereinafter referred to.

6 designates a pair of feed-rollers the shafts 6 of which extend into the rear slots 4 in the standards 2, the uppermost of these rollers being held depressed to the lowermost by the adjustment-screws 5, surmounting the boxes in which the upper shaft has bearing.

7 and 8 designate, respectively, upper and lower shafts that are journaled in boxes positioned in the forward slots 3 of the standards 2, the upper shaft being adjustable toward the lower through the medium of the forward adjustment-screws 5.

9 designates a pair of feed-rollers adjustably held to the upper shaft 7 by set-screws 10, and 11 designates feed-rollers adjustably held to the shaft 8 by set-screws 12. (See Fig. III.)

13 designates a table that projects forwardly from the position of the shafts 7 and 8 and the feed-rollers mounted thereon, the said table being provided with sides 14c, that extend rearwardly beyond the shafts 8 and through which said shafts pass loosely. is formed in sections, as seen in Fig. I, the sections being divided on a line extending from front to rear of the table and approximately central thereof.

15 designates rectangular frames surmounting the table 13 at its rear portion and within which the feed-rollers 9 and 11 are positioned, as seen in Fig. III.

16 designates shift-screws that pass through the standards 2 and enter into the sections of the table 13. Through the medium of these shift-screws the table-sections and the frames 15, carried thereby, are adjusted longitudinally of the machine to accommodate the parts to the reception of and operation upon sheets of metal to be creased and folded of varying widths.

17 and 17 designate idlers loosely mounted upon the lower shaft 8, one at the outer end of each of the lower feed-rollers 11, the idler 17 being of less diameter than the adjacent feed-roller and the idler 17 being of greater diameter than the feed-roller adjacent thereto.

18 is an idler looselymounted on the upper shaft 7 immediately above the idler 17, being of greater diameter than the feed-rollers 9, which it adjoins, and being arranged in opposition to the lower idler 17.

18' is an idler on the shaft 7, that opposes the lower large-diameter idler17 on the shaft 8 and is of less diameter than the adjoining feed-roller 9 on the shaft 7 ofthe opposing idler '17.

19 and 19' designate folder-plates, one of which is shown in detail in Fig. VI. Each of these plates consists of the main body and a curving tongue 20, that extends from one of The table 13 the side edges of the body. The folding-plate 19 is positioned on one of the sections of the table 13 at its rear end, theedge of its tongue being presented upwardly and extending inwardly, as seen in Figs. II and V. Adjacent to the folding-plate 19 and mounted on the table-section by which said plate is carried is a bracket 20, to which is secured a block 21,

that carries a guide-tongue 22. This guidetongue extends into the space between the body of the folder-plate 19 and its overhanging tongue 20.

23 designates a bracket surmounting the side of the table-section opposite to that at which the folder-plate 19 is positioned, and to the under side of this bracket is secured the folder-plate 19, which is placed in inverted position, so that its tongue 20 extends downwardly and inwardly, as seen in Fig. V.

24 is a lower bracket secured to the table side 14 beneath the table 13 and the bracket 23, and 21 is a block secured to said lower bracket and having a guide-tongue 22", that extends into the space between the body of folder-plate 19 and its tongue.

In the practical use of my machine the operation is as follows: The sheets to be creased and folded are placed on the table 13 and fed into position between the feed-rollers 9 and 11, and as they pass between said members one edge of each sheet is creased downwardly by traveling between the small-diameter and large-diameter opposing idlers 17 and 18, while the opposite edge of the sheet is creased upwardly by passing between the lower largediameter idler 17 and the upper small-diameter idler 18. The result is that the sheet of metal, which is illustrated by A, Fig. IV, has produced therein the opposite creases or kinks B and C. The idlers are all loosely mounted on the shafts by which they are carried to thereby secure independent rotation thereof, so that they will rotate with a uniform speed while the sheet of metal is passing between them, notwithstanding the variance in their diameters. After the sheet of metal has been creased the edge of the sheet that has been creased downwardly passes into the folder-plate 19 and is bent upwardly and rearwardly into the fold B, (seen in Fig. VIL) due to the action of the folder-plate tongue and the guide-tongue 22 extending into position beneath said tongue. The opposite edge of the sheet, or that having the upward crease, passes into the folder-plate 19 and is bent downwardly and inwardly by the folder-plate tongue 20 and the guide-tongue 22, entering into the folder-plate 19, thereby producing afold C, as seen in Fig. VII, to be interlocked with the fold B and form the seam-joint of the sheet A. Whenever it is desired to operate upon sheets of metal of a width varying from that previously operated upon in the machine, it is only necessary to loosen the setscrews 10 and 12, that hold the feed-rollers 9 and 11 to their shafts, and to adjust the shift-screws'16 and move the table-sections inwardly or outwardly to thereby obtain the proper positioning of the crease-forming idlers and folding members at more or less widely separated distances, according to the sheets to be creased and folded.

The roller-shafts of the machine may be driven by power applied to any suitable gearing fitted thereto.

I claim as my invention 1. In a machine of the character described, the combination of a pair of shafts, two pairs of feed-rollers adjustably mounted on said shafts, and pairs of idlers of varying diameters loosely mounted on said shafts at the outer ends of each of said feed-rollers, substantially as set forth.

2. In a machine of the character described, the combination of a pair of shafts, two pairs of feed-rollers adjustably mounted on said shafts, pairs of idlers of varying diameters loosely mounted on said shafts at the outer ends of each of said feed-rollers, and a sectional table on which the material to be operated upon is fed to said feed-rollers, substantially as set forth.

3. In a machine of the character described, the combination of a pairof shafts, two pairs of feed-rollers adjustably mounted on said shafts, pairs of idlers of varying diameters loosely mounted on said shafts at the outer ends of each of said feed-rollers, a sectional table on which the material to be operated upon is fed to said rollers, and means for shifting the sections of said table laterally,- substantially as set forth.

4. In a machine of the character described, the combination of sheet-feeding rollers, and a pair of curved folding-plates located in proximity to said feeding-rollers, one of said folding-plates being extended upwardly and inwardly and the other of said plates being extended downwardly and inwardly, substantially as set forth.

5. In a machine of the character described, the combination of a table, sheet-feeding rollers, and creasing-idlers associated therewith to which the sheets are delivered from said table, curved folding-plates mounted on said table, and guide-tongues entering into the IIO folds of said folding-plates, substantially as 

